In 1973, professor of psychology Irving Gottesman and his colleague, James Shields, introduced the term endophenotype into human psychiatric genetic research as a result of their groundbreaking research studying schizophrenia in twins and families. Their work centered on identifying behavioral characteristics that occurred as a result of genetics. Endo refers to the concept of “within” or “internal.” Thus, endophenotype embodies a measurable, behavioral characteristic clearly associated with a genetic condition. This entry discusses the different natures of enophenotypes, as well as past and current research concerning them.

Genotypes and Phenotypes

A genome is akin to an individual’s set of instructions or personal programming code, which determines at a cellular level exactly who that individual is. An early distinction in genetic research was the difference between genotype ...

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